Richard Riehle, a prolific character actor whose bushy mustache and knack for portraying troubled middlemen endeared him to Hollywood casting directors for decades, has died, his representatives said Monday.
He was 78 years old. Lille’s representatives said he died over the weekend but gave no details on the cause of death.
Leal is best known for playing Tom Smykowski, an anxious product manager bristling at the prospect of being fired, in Mike Judge’s corporate satire Office Space. (“I have people skills! I’m good at dealing with people! Don’t you understand?”).
Even with little screen time, he’s made a lasting impression, whether playing a racist quartermaster in “Glory,” the guard who allows Harrison Ford to escape in “The Fugitive,” a gangster banker cursed by Joe Pesci in Martin Scorsese’s “Casino,” or a kind-hearted car mechanic who helps Kristen Wiig in “Bridesmaids.”
Leal’s hundreds of credits include dozens of television roles, such as principal Ed Rooney in the short-lived sitcom “Ferris Bueller,” a gruff grandfather in “The West Wing” and a police officer in “The West Wing.” He most recently played a prison warden in HBO’s dark comedy “Barry.”
“In addition to his immense talent, he will be remembered for his genuine kindness, boundless kindness and unwavering generosity, especially to emerging actors and filmmakers, whom he encouraged and supported at every opportunity,” his agency and management company said in a statement.
“Grounded for Life” star Donal Logue paid tribute to Leal on Facebook, calling his co-star “an amazing man” and “a consummate professional.”
“He was an actor’s actor – humble, kind, and incredibly skilled,” Logue wrote. “I had to apologize to him after his last audition for Down to Earth because he made me laugh so hard that I ruined the character and fell to the floor.”
Leal made his screen debut as an unnamed bartender in the 1977 road movie “Joy,” the first of more than 400 film and television credits.
Richard Mathias Riehle was born on May 12, 1948 in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. He attended the University of Notre Dame, where he joined the campus theater group and developed a love for stage performance.
“I always wanted this role to be something that would bring out the best in me and force me to find something extra,” Leal told the 2011-2012 Winter Issue of Notre Dame Magazine. “The lead character isn’t always the best part of a play or movie.”